Matmen Crush Trio at MIT, Now 9-0

Wrestling co-captain Tony Cimmarusti called it an "enjoyable afternoon." Coach Johny Lee said that he was pleasantly surprised. Both men had reason to be happy; they were reacting to the wrestling team's Saturday drubbing of MIT, the University of Lowell, and the Coast Guard Academy in a tournament at MIT.

The still undefeated matmen began their afternoon with a 33-6 triumph over the Coast Guardsmen and then went on to silence Lowell, 24-11, and to flatten a weak MIT team, 39-9.

Sophomore Howard Verland's pin of his Coast Guard opponent only a minute and ten seconds into the first match of the day, in the 118 1b. weight class, started the ball rolling for the Crimson. From there, the grapplers cruised to eight victories in their next nine matches, losing only once, by a pin, at 177 pounds.

Musing on the rather lopsided victory over the Coast Guard Academy, Lee said yesterday that the Crimson had been stronger than he expected and the Bears weaker. But he called Harvard's results versus Lowell and MIT pretty much as expected.

Neither team was ever within striking distance and the Crimson had little difficulty disposing of each in turn.

Cool

Crimson regulars Mark Cooley and Andy McNerney drew special praise from Lee. Following Cooley's twin triumphs over his Coast Guard and Lowell 190-1b. counterparts, Lee remarked, "Mark is finally getting his act together."

Calling McNerney "the most dedicated wrestler on the team," Lee applauded the sophomore's narrow victory over his larger Coast Guard opponent in the 142-1b. class.

Lee had promised to let many of his less experienced wrestlers compete in this quadrangular meet and he kept his word. Of the reserves pressed into service, Andy Wise did especially well, defeating both Lowell and MIT in the 134-1b. slot, which co-captain Rick Kief had successfully defended against the Bears earlier in the day.

Wes Carrion, filling in at Cooley's slot versus MIT, also triumphed in a substitute role.

But the Crimson's outsized victories were marred, Lee said, by inadequacies in some wrestlers' techniques.

Verland's pin was Harvard's only fall of the day, and that bothered the Crimson coach. "We've been working on controlling (our opponents) but I think it's definitely time to work on pinning combinations," he said.